Best way to wake up my lazy auto tranny

[ukgtguy]

I have recently acquired my bog standard '04 GT. I love the car and the motor but I am less than impressed with the standard auto transmission. Don't get me wrong if I kick it down HARD the car is quick, but generally I find the throttle response pedestrian, and the transmission quite lazy with vague, tedious shifts.

I WAS expecting this from the standard auto to be honest from what I had read but the right car came up at the right price and I decided to go with it rather than look for a manual. What mods do you recommend to 'wake up' the auto ? I will eventually be looking at other power/chassis mods for the car as well but these will be relatively mild - I doubt I'll put much more than 400 hp through the transmission in the foreseeable future.

I'm in the UK BTW but I can source parts in the states without too much trouble and have access to some local technical expertise if the mods are beyond a basic DIY job. THX.

 

[slytherin]

shift kit and stall converter, and throw in some 3.73's or 4.10's depending on how much highway driving.

 

[propellerhead]

The factory settings for the shifting behavior is made to be granny-friendly. To improve the daily driving feel, get a handheld tuner and firm up the shifts.

If you want real performance for the track, go for a shift kit and stall converter.

You'll find a lot of the info you need in the tech articles on www.tccoa.com.

 

[2001sleeper]

shift kit and nice TC are a must for an auto.

 

[Rocketman]

My Diablo Sport Chip really made a huge difference in how the car shifted. Very impressive.

 

[OUR01GT]

Several options are avalible:
SHIFT KIT
TORQUE CONVERTER
PROGRAMMER

I have installed a TRANSGO shift kit and am satisfied with the shifting and shift points.

 

[propellerhead]

My Diablo Sport Chip really made a huge difference in how the car shifted. Very impressive.

What's even better is when you can adjust it yourself in under 3 minutes!

 

[rjstaaf]

I would definitely get a transmission cooler if you are gonna bump up the line pressure. Heat is the number 1 killer of transmissions.

I saw a thread on another forum just yesterday where a Ford tech posted commenting on a guy that brought his '04 GT in with only 10K on the odometer and a transmission that was already slipping. The guy was dumb enough to leave his Predator hand held sitting on the passenger seat. He had maxed the settings for line pressure and shift firmness. Needless to say, he will be paying for the tranny himself.

 

[Mustangl3]

so maxxing out the line pressure with the predator will cause the tranny to start slipping?

 

[ProCharger GT]

I think he means due to it overheating - tranny coolers are relatively inexpensive and is an effective and cheap mod for building up a tranny.

 

[Mustangl3]

what is a safe operating temp for the tranny fluid?

 

[rjstaaf]

what is a safe operating temp for the tranny fluid?

Put it this way, for every 25 degrees above 170 your transmission fluid life is cut in half. Before doing anything to the tranny your best bet is to get a cooler.

http://www.bmracing.com/index.php?id=products&sid=3&cat=20&subcat=28

 

[propellerhead]

I would definitely get a transmission cooler if you are gonna bump up the line pressure. Heat is the number 1 killer of transmissions.

I saw a thread on another forum just yesterday where a Ford tech posted commenting on a guy that brought his '04 GT in with only 10K on the odometer and a transmission that was already slipping. The guy was dumb enough to leave his Predator hand held sitting on the passenger seat. He had maxed the settings for line pressure and shift firmness. Needless to say, he will be paying for the tranny himself.

Was he saying the Predator is the reason for the slipping? The Predator doesn't really have a 'line pressure' setting. You can increase the shift firmness up to a certain point. It won't let you set it sky high. Now, that only means the shift occurs quicker and there's less slipping -- which means less heat generated. I'm not sure how the Predator can cause this guy's transmission to cook. He must have been brake stalling a lot or ran high RPMs for extended periods.

 

[rjstaaf]

Was he saying the Predator is the reason for the slipping? The Predator doesn't really have a 'line pressure' setting. You can increase the shift firmness up to a certain point. It won't let you set it sky high. Now, that only means the shift occurs quicker and there's less slipping -- which means less heat generated. I'm not sure how the Predator can cause this guy's transmission to cook. He must have been brake stalling a lot or ran high RPMs for extended periods.

You are correct, the Predator was not the cause of the failure. Usually though, increasing shift firmness is done by increasing line pressure. People don't usually do that for their daily commute Also mentioned in the thread on the other site is that the guy went through the stock tires in those same 10K miles so yes, he was abusing it.

 

[Mike97gt]

shift kit and stall converter, and throw in some 3.73's or 4.10's depending on how much highway driving.

 

[streetstang03]

Jerry Mod (research here:http://www.tccoa.com/articles/tranny/index.html) , 4.10s, Tranny Cooler, PI Stallion 2800rpm stall converter (www.converter.com)

 

[TGJ]

Jerry Mod (research here:http://www.tccoa.com/articles/tranny/index.html) , 4.10s, Tranny Cooler, PI Stallion 2800rpm stall converter (www.converter.com)

I agree, but I don't not like the PI TC. CircleD Torque TC's are much better than the PI single disc and they will be releasing a triple disc soon.

 

[streetstang03]

never heard anything bad from anyone about the PI Stallion TCs

are the CircleDs cheaper than PI Stallion?

 

[TGJ]

never heard anything bad from anyone about the PI Stallion TCs

are the CircleDs cheaper than PI Stallion?

I have heard and seen bad things about PI torque converters!

CircleD is comparable or slightly cheaper than PI but they build a much better TC.

 

[streetstang03]

share what you've heard please! this thread needs to be a sticky.